Feeder mechanism for circular knitting machines



y 6, 1949. R. PEBERDY Q 2,477,495

FEEDER MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed. June 11, 1947 2Sheets-Sheet 1 El"? ii III 4 "'1 0 l2 July 26,1949. R. P EBERDY' 72,477,495

FEEDER MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Juhe 11, 1947 V 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Patented July 26, 1949 FEEDER MECHANISM FORCIRCULAR KN ITTI NG MACHINES .Roland Peberdy, Leicester, England,assignor to The Bentley Engineering Company Limited,

Leicester, England Application June 11, 1947, Serial No. 753,981 InGreat Britain June 20, 1946 Claims. (01. se -131),

l This invention concerns feeder mechanism for circular knittingmachines, especially circular knitting machines of the opposed needlecylinder type wherein needles are capable of transfer from one needlecylinder to the other. Of such machines the superimposed needle cylindermachine is the sole embodiment at present in commercial use. In suchmachines it is generally necessary to locate the thread feeders outsidethe needle circle, and this involves difficulties when it is desired soto arrange matters that a thread feeder may be moved into and out ofoperatlon or thread feeders may be interchanged. These difiiculties arepronounced in the case of the Splicing feeder of a machine of theaforesaid type which is constructed and arrangedfor the manufacture ofseamless hose and the like, said splicing feeder remaining in feedingposition for a portion only of each course. I

It will be understood that when in feeding position the splicing feedereye should be located as close as practicable to the needles, in thesomewhat restricted space between the feeder for the main or ground yarnand the location at which the needle latches close. The path of movementof the feeder eye into and out of feeding position must be suchthat itmisses the closing latches, and its outward path must carry the runningyarn into a trapper and cutter which should be located as close aspossible to the needle circle so that it cuts the splicing thread asclose as possible to thelast needle that has knitted it so as to avoidthe formation of free ends of undue length at one edge of the splicedarea.

It is further desirable that the two alternative positions of the feedereye, in relation to the trapper and cutter and to the knitting point;shall be such that When the length of yarn extending from the introducedfeeder eye to the trapper and cutter is taken bythe needles and isreleased by the trapper, substantially the whol of said length shall beknitted up. I

These requirements are diflicult to meet,

In seamless hose and half hose machines of thetype specified, twoconstructions of splicing feeder mechanism have been employed. In one,the feeder arm swings about an axis parallel to that of the needlecylinders. Difficulties are experienced in designing satisfactorymechanism of this construction. On the one hand, if matters are soarranged that the length of splicin thread extending from the withdrawnfeeder eye to the trapper and cutter is not to be greater than thatextending between the two said parts when the eye reaches the feedingposition, the path of travel of aneye to clear the closing latchesresults in a feeding position which is comparatively widely spaced tothe outside of the needle circle. On the other hand, if the axis ofmovement of the feeder is so disposed that the arcuate path ofmovementof the eye to clear the closing latches brings the eye close tothe needle circle the dimculty arises that when the eye reaches feedingposition it is then more close to the trapper than it is when in itsnon-feeding position so that, at the moment of introduction, the lengthof thread that extends from the eye to the trapper is not taut but isslack and bowed and is therefore not introduced to the needles withcertainty at a predetermined needle but in a haphazard manner whichresults in a ragged edge to the spliced area. In another constructionthe feeder is substantially L-shaped and lies in a plane normal to thecylinder axis, one arm of the L. being tangential to a circle concentricwith said axis and the other arm protruding therefrom inwards towardsthe needle circle. In this second construction, to introduce the feederthe latter is moved lengthwise of the first mentionedarm and thenvention is not restricted in its utility to machines of the opposedneedle cylinders type.

With this and other objects in view the present invention provides. inor for a circular knitting machine, feeder mechanism comprising a feederarm having a feeder eye at its extremity, and

means mounting said arm for movement about a plurality of axes allsubstantially parallel with the axis of the needle circle and formovement of the feeder eyein a thread-withdrawing path, the firstportion of which is substantially radially away from the needle circleand the subsequent portion of which is substantially circumferential- 1yof the circle. I

r The construction specified in the preceeding paragraph has theadvantage that the path of the feeder eye may be'such that it clears theclosing latches in movement into and out of a feeding position which isclose to the needle circle and which is close also to the ground feederand to the location at which the latches close,

The foregoing and other features of the in Vention set out in theappended claims, '=are incorporated in the construction which will nowbe described, as an example-offithe application thereof to the splicingfeederdfa seamless "hose or half-hose machine of the superimposed needlecylinder type, with reierence to the ,accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the relevant parts of the knittingmachine ahddf the splicing feeder mechanism, and

Figure'2'is aplanthereof.

InFigure l, the latch needles are *shown at- I, whilein Figure 2 theneedle circle is indicated at and the position at which-the latchesclose is indicated by the line L. C. The splicing feeder arm! isofe'longatedrod form and,'in its'operative position shown in Fig. 2 infull lines, oc- "cupies a Substantially radial attitude. Its outer 'end'is slidably received in a guide block 3 which is itself pivotallymounted on a bracket 4 for movement about a vertical axis (i. e. an"axis which is parallel to the-axis of the needle cylinder).slightlyinwards of this pivot the arm 2 is fixed to a pivot block'5,also having a vertical axis, on a-horizontal swinging arm 6 whichisitself movable about a vertical axis at 15, and which when the feeder isin the feeding position,

"extends substantially at right angles thereto.

Therefore, assuming the feeder-eye"! to -be in the feeding position, inpivotal movement of the swinging arm 6 away from the needle cylindersthe feeder 2 is first caused to slide through the "guide block -3'(accompanied by but little pivotal movement of' 'the latter) sothatt'he-eye =1" moves substantially radially awayirom the needllecircle I with little movement circumferentially'of said *circle (thuspermitting the eye to travel outlwa-rds until it is located at a radiusgreater than that of the closing latches), then, as the swingingmovement of the arm 6 progresses-and the angle included betw'een the armand the outer end of the feeder increases the sliding movement of thefeeder in theguide block?! is reduced and its pivotal movementincreases, with the result that the feeder eye 1 moves circumferentiallyof the needle circle. This movementtakes the eye I along-the athindicated bythe dotted line F. P. 'inFigure 2, past the closing latchesto a position (also shown in dotted lines in Figure 2) adjacent to atrapperand cutter 8 which itself located close to'the-nee'dle circle I.

The swinging arm '6 is movable between adjust- "a-ble stops '9, movementin one direction (preferablythat which carries the feeder into operativeposition) being imparted to it 'throug'h a "push rod Iii and movement inthe other direc- 'tion being imparted to it by a'tension-spring fl.

This push rod is engaged with- 9in adjustable tappet 12 at the .upperend of an operating lever il3towhich the spring ll'is'also connec 'ted.-This never "I3 is of bell crank form, its second arm ibeing bifurcatedso that the two fork arms 311,

45317 engage respectively with each of twofcains 15,1 1 :of arotarytiming device M *whe'reioy positive movement ofthe feeder into an but bf4 operation is secured and the feeder is always under positive control.In order to avoid fitti operations on the cams each cam consists of twoparts or discs 16a, Nib, or Ila, I'lb that are adjustablecircumferentially. These parts cons'ist difiaf nose on one 'disc fwlii'ch serves to shift the associated fork armand a filling rip cam, onanother disc, which is intended to maintain engagement with said forkarm until that phase in the camrotation at which the nose of the vether-cam operates to shift the fork arm. Additionally, thetwo fork armsl3a, ltb are fric- "tio'na-lly*connectedto one another and to the-"operatiifgilever, the required pressure being app'liedby'compressionspring [8 and adjusting nut ;'t9--actinga-gainst a thrust collar 2!] onthe lever spin'dleifl.

Any suitable mechanism is provided for impart" i'ng "continuous rotationto these cams I6, ll through spindle 22. v

It will be understood that as the feeder 'eye 'l is with'd'ramvn, thethread T extends from it in a direction tangentially of the needlecircles and this movement, to'gther 'with the anti-clockwise rotation ofth'e h'eedl'e cylinder o'r cylinders, eventually carries "that length"of thread, that eartends drom the eye to the iast needle --to kii-itit, into -t'h'e trapper and cutter 8. In the reverse movement intofeeding position, the eyemoves in atlthe leading side e f-the closinglatches i. e. :at az ositicn in advance is the li'neL; 0.) so that thethead '1 extending ir om the eye to the "trap i and cutter -i's enclosedwithinthe *needle hooks by the "latches. It will further be appreciatedfrom Fig. 2 that the trapper outte'r' may be located very close to theneedle-"circle in 'a position wherein thedistancebetween, aiidthe lehgthor threadrextending between the' eyeandthe trapper and cutter at themoment of introduction-is not less than' the distance between, andi thelength of thread extending between the eye and the trapper and cutter atthe "moment of trapiping; 'The ground feeder (not 'shown') may belocated closely in advance of the operative :pOSi- "'tion of thesplicing :fee'der.

Having now particularly described and iascertained the 'nature of mysaid invention aifdwin what manner the same is to he :perform'ed, Ideclare that what I claim is 1. In a' circular knitting machirie, feedermechanism coniprisingafeied-er armhaving its feeding *en'd disposedadjacent to the 'needle "circle, a pivotal mounting-on which the :armis' inovable about an aXis-substan-tiailyparallel to the axis'of needlecircle, a lever on which thewmountirrg' is itself carried and-which islpivotall-y movable about -'-an 'axis substantially parallel- :with thetwo previo-usly-rnentioned arms, 'aguide on which the arm is slidable ata location more {emote from the needle-circle than is the pivotalmounting, *whichguide is also movable about an eunstanti-a-llyl-parallel with the three axes'aforesaid,

and means for roekin'gthe-lever to and f-ro.

2. -In'or rena-circular -knitting machine, feeder -mechan-ism comprisinga feed-er arm having a feeding eye at its extremity, and means moun ingsaid arm for movement about-a plurality of axes all substantiallyparallel with the axis of the needle circle 'and' 'formovementof theiee'der eye in a =thread-withd-raw-ing path, the first portion of whichis substantially radially away from the needlecii'cl'e and thesubsequent portion of which is substantially circlimferentially of thecircle.

' 3. Feeder mechanismeccordingto-claim- 2, for

*aimacliine having ed-rotary needle'cyl-ihden'wherein the feeding end ofthe feeder moves in the direction of rotation into its non-feedingposition. in

4. In a circular knitting machine, feeder mechanism comprising a feederarm, having a feeding eye at its end for feeding a yarn to the needles,a pivotal guide on which the arm is slidable in the direction of itslength towards and away from the needle circle and is pivotally movableabout an axis substantially parallel to the axis of the needle circle, apivotal mounting for the arm at a location spaced from the axis of theneedle circle and from the pivotal guide; and mechanism for shifting isaid pivotal mounting, about an axis which is substantially parallel tothe axis of the needle circle and to the axis of the pivotal guide, andfor simultaneously sliding the arm on the pivotal guide in movement ofthe feeding eye between feeding and non-feeding positions.

5. A machine according to claim 2, having a trapper and cutter forreceiving and cutting the REFERENCES CITED The following references areof record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,838,651 Bentley et a1 Dec. 29,1931 2,388,750 Lawson et al Nov. 13, 1945 2,399,729 Fregeolle May '7,1946

